Disney’s hit musical “The Lion King” roars back into San Francisco and is currently performing at Orpheum Theatre – San Francisco through the holiday season January 13, 2013. Karen D’Souza reviewed the musical at MercuryNews.com. Here is the review:

“Lion King” is buoyed by its dazzling use of puppetry, which ranges from Japanese Bunraku puppets to Indonesian shadow puppets. Little Simba flees his home, the Pridelands, and his lifelong chum Nala (Kailah McFadden and Sade Phillip-Demorcy share the role), for the wilds of the jungle where he befriends a smart aleck meerkat Timon (Nick Cordileone) and a flatulent warthog Pumbaa (Ben Lipitz).

Amid the chaos of the savanna, Simba comes of age (Jelani Remy plays Simba as a young man). Emboldened by the now formidable huntress Nala (Syndee Winters), he resolves to right the wrongs committed by his uncle, who has destroyed the balance of nature in this fragile ecosystem. Under the watchful eye of the shaman baboon Rafiki (Buyi Zama), Simba fights for his rightful place in the pride.

If the narrative arc seems a little thin, the African chants and rhythms are irresistible (they definitely upstage the Elton John and Tim Rice numbers), Garth Fagan’s choreography infectious and the story suitably heartwarming. Certainly, the show’s environmental messages are nicely woven together with its meditation on the cycle of life so that even the littlest audience member can follow the themes.